| Linksys WMP54GS Wireless-G PCI Card with SpeedBooster |
 enlarge
|
Model: WMP54GS
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 98
Form factor: Plug-in card
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
|
|
|
| |
| Features: |
High-speed Wireless-G for your desktop PC, now with SpeedBooster performance enhancement
Put your PC wherever you want, with no cabling hassle
New SpeedBooster technology increases wireless network performance by up to 35%
Also interoperates with standard Wireless-G and Wireless-B networks
Compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Windows Vista |
| |
| Description: |
| LINKSYS WMP54GS -- The Wireless-G PCI Card with SpeedBooster installs easily in most desktop and tower PCs, and gives you the freedom to put your computer anywhere in the house or office -- saving the cost and hassle of running network cables. No need to drill holes in your walls and climb through the attic or cellar to get connected to the network! For Windows PC |
| |
| User Reviews (98 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 5 of Total 5 Pages
|
Incredible, December 14, 2005
By N. Angiuli
I'm shocked at the number of negative reviews this has.
I am 14 years old and I set this up by myself. I have Windows XP Media Edition and I installed this 6 days ago and have had no trouble with it.
Instalation is simple if you know how to read. Insert the disk, install the software, turn off PC, unplug everything, open up computer, take off cover for PCI slot, put adapter into slot, screw PC cover back on, plug everything in, turn on your computer.
The whole process took me about 10 minutes. If the above seems too hard, don't worry: it shows you what the take off, where to put it etc.
As for performance, The signal NEVER disconnects even if the signal strength is at very low. Never any problems with connecting or anything of the sort. I have tested that this will work with routers that are not made by Linksys. I tried 2 others and found the performance to be the same.
Do not be discouraged to buy this based on other reviews. This couldn't have been any simpler.
|
Excellent Product!, December 11, 2005
By Col (ct)
I replaced this card in my Dell Dimension 5100 with a Wireless B network and I have much faster internet speed and quality. IT was simple to install and the internet overall is much faster, even with a 11 mbps rate network.
Highly recommended Product!
|
horrible product, horrible customer service, December 2, 2005
By Patty Blake (Hawaii)
I have been trying to use this product since September, 2005. I have been unable to stay connected to the internet while using this product, and have spent literally DAYS talking to unintelligible tech support people. Maybe you have lots of spare time to wait while they consult their Sanskrit to English dictionaries, but I don't. Not only was tech support unable to solve my problems after weeks on end of daily phone calls, when they had me return my defective item for 'free replacement' they charged my account as if it had not been returned! I contacted them with my delivery confirmation and they still did not return my money. The 3rd time I contacted them they claimed I had not returned all the parts. I had someone else double check my package before I sent it, and all the parts were there. The customer service person grudgingly agreed to 'begin the refund process' after I discussed this, and when I asked how long that process was, they told me 7 to 10 days. I am not holding my breath, as I expect it to be longer. Had I not called today, they would not have even 'begun the process.' They charge roughly $20 more than I would pay for the item in a local store, and they don't check to see if you returned it before they charge. How many customers have their money tied up in fraudulent charges to this company? Don't buy from them if you plan to actually USE your computer. I could have saved lots of time and money by calling my service provider and skipping the whole wireless hassle. I'm sure someone somewhere makes decent wireless products and has their tech support in the US, but linksys doesn't.
If you think you might be one of the lucky ones who doesn't ever have to call tech support or replace a defective part, go ahead and buy from them.
|
This device will interfere with your digital lcd monitor! You will also need an external antenna!, November 27, 2005
By Is (Joliet, IL)
I installed this into my pc using a slot that was 3 slots away form my dvi slot (digital lcd monitor connection) and it caused horrible interference that whenever I would reboot the pc the monitor would go out for most of the reboot and blink and then eventually come back on. I tried moving the supplied antenna around and no luck. The reception was not that great either and I ended up having to buy a separate external antenna. With the external antenna it finally doesnt make my monitor go out but all in all i ended up spending very close to $100 dollars to make my desktop wireless. As far as the speedboost I dont have anything to compare it to because I upgraded my whole network from a wireless b to the g and anything is better than the b. Also, my router is a linksys srx and it has higher reception and works at 108 mbps standard so the network is fast to begin with. I only purchased this device because the srx version was out of stock. Once the srx version comes back into stock this device will be a spare for customers pcs in the shop to connect to the wireless lan.
|
Linksys SRX Network, October 27, 2005
By HBF (WV)
Have setup three wireless networks. Couldn't have setup the Linksys w/o prior experience. Setup wizard didn't complete installation. Op System is plain vanilla, MS XP home w/ current windows updates. Item had generally poor documentation. A "quick-start" guide would have been helpful. Very good conductivity and speed once operating but harder than it should have been to get there, not user friendly.
|
VERY simple to install, September 20, 2005
By CommunityGuy.com (Dallas, TX, USA)
I plugged in the CD, shut down, plugged in the card, booted, plugged in my WEP passkey code, and was up and running.
That literally was it. I'm using a Linksys wireless router, so perhaps that helped, but I was shocked and impressed with how easy this was to setup!
|
Linksys Wireless card, September 8, 2005
By Justin (Ohio)
I have one of the Linksys in my laptop and just purchased this wireless card for my desktop. Installation was easy and it worked perfectly from the start with no problems in two months.
|
Works as promised, August 22, 2005
By James Tee (San Diego, CA USA)
Works great so far. I'm using it with an older Wireless-B router (until I get my Wireless-G+speedbooster router) and it's great, although the range could be better. I expect that that should improve once I try it with the router it was meant for. Nice small card fit easily into my HTPC microatx box and case as I'll be using it to stream from the internet to the home TV and to remotely manage the webcam.
|
Customer service nightmare. Read before buying!, August 22, 2005
By Sean M. Chauvin (USAF Academy, CO United States)
I bought a WMP54GS and it died after 2 months. I paid to have it sent off to Linksys and then paid to have it sent back to me because Linksys won't ship to an APO. The card they sent back was a refurbished one which begs the question "Why didn't I just buy a refurbished one to begin with and save money?" The thing that really made me mad was that the antenna that came with the card had been chewed on by a dog! It was mangled. I contact Linksys service and the first person I talk to basically tells me to just deal with it. I finally have to call and speak with someone else just to get them to say they'll check into what they can do. It takes a total of 6 emails and a long distance phone call from Okinawa just to get them to offer to replace it. Here's the catch though, I have to send the card and antenna back to them and again pay to have it shipped back to me. Nice to see Linksys
cares about their customers.
|
Linksys WRT54GS is a snap to install, August 18, 2005
By L. Wise (San Diego)
I upgraded from a Linksys wired router to the wireless. I had the new wireless router up and running in less than 30 minutes. The wireless notebook is a Sony Viao with a built-in wireless interface. I have the network locked down with MAC address filtering and 128-bit WEP. Still using DHCP with no trouble at all getting IP addresses for both wired and wireless devices. Haven't measured throughput, but it's quick. Very quick on startup, too. I have no complaints about this router at all.
|
|
|
Mixed Results, August 8, 2005
By ocdabbler (Fullerton, CA)
I initially bought this wireless card for use on my old system that was running on an American Megatrends motherboard with a 2.0 Ghz. CPU and 1024 MB of memory. Out of the box it worked sporadically until I downloaded the updated drivers. Then it worked fine.
Upgraded my computer in the meantime to a Pentium IV 3.0 Ghz. processor with HT technology. Disaster!! Got nothing but crash after crash in the middle of heavy downloads. Particularly with P2P file sharing programs, I had nothing but disconnects, system shut downs or halts.
Rebuilt a computer for a friend and installed the linksys pci card so that I could access the internet with the new computer and update it. Had no problems whatsoever. No crashes, not halts, but would lose the connection every now and then and have to use the Linksys utility to re-establish the connection. Other than that I ran my friends computer for several days and experienced almost no problems.
Uninstalled the PCI card from the friend's computer and delivered their computer running like a champ.
Re-installed the wireles-g PCI card on my newly built computer again and back to the same problem. Crash, crash, crash. Thought the problem might be the motherboard so looked for new BIOS. None available because the one I have is the most current. Called Abit tech support to check if they knew of any incompatibility with the linksys card and Abit motherboards. According to them they received no reports of incompatiblity and the card should work just fine. Not true.
As of this posting I still have not been able to resolve the problem. My conclusion at this point is based on the three computers I have installed the card on; My old computer, my new computer and the one I built for my friend. On the first and the third everything seems to work out fine. On the second, my new computer, I will keep plugging away and try to find a solution. Obviously there is no one to turn to for help (at least not at Linksys tech support). I now believe that the problem could only be one thing, the wireless-g PCI card. Now I'll have to go out and by a new card when I just bought this one a few weeks ago. Can't return it and no one knows how to solve the problem so I will have to buy another motherboard or a new wireless card in hopes that they will be compatible.
Hope this review gets through considering its length but my advice is to keep your receipts when buying a linksys product. It is hit and miss. You can have an experience like I had with my friend's computer and have no gliches at all. Or you can be in my predicament and have to put up with a faulty product until you can afford to buy a replacement for it.
|
Unbelievably easy with XP, July 23, 2005
By Stephen Nied (Chicago)
I too read the reviews saying this was impossible with XP. I run XP Pro, but I have a Linksys wireless router I'm very happy with, so I bought it anyway. And those reviews were completely wrong. This was the easiest installation I've every done. Pop in the card, turn on the computer, stick in the CD. That is it! It connected to my wireless router instantly and I was on the internet.
|
Easy installation, great product!, July 15, 2005
By sewnsew (Bel Alton, Maryland USA)
I put this in a Dell Dimension w/Windows XP going to a Motorola wireless router connected to a broadband modem and an older Gateway w/XP computer. The Dell is about 40-50 feet from the router. No more cables running through the house! This works excellent. Easy to install, great signal. A storm blew out my regular network card and I overheard someone mention wireless?! Did a little research and got this one with a $20 rebate. Only took a very few minutes. Used Linksys products before and have always had good luck with them.
|
Don't buy it, June 6, 2005
By John (New York, NY)
Don't buy this one unless all you want to do is return it. The software is terrible. If you need proof, you should go to www.linksys.com/check and see all the software patches that you can download for their products. I downloaded the software but it still doesn't operate the device.
|
A Monkey Could Install This!, April 29, 2005
By L. Hauser (Bethesda, MD USA)
This is going to sound a little embarrassing, but I had more trouble getting my computer case opened than I did installing this card. The installation process went something like this... Spend 10 minutes trying to figure out how to open my new computer's case. Finally, get case opened. Pop this card into a PCI slot. Close case. Screw on antenna. Turn on computer and get a message saying that Windows has detected new hardware. Ignore the message for the moment and put the LinkSys driver cd into my cd-rom drive. Driver installs without any action from me - new hardware mesage goes away. A screen with all available wireless networks pops up. I pick my network, enter my WEP password and everything works. I am now browsing the web and transferring files from my other computers with no problems and my signal is great.
My operating system is Windows XP Home and I am using the LinkSys wireless G access point. If you are using XP and have all LinkSys products I would say you can't miss with this card. Installing it was a no brainer and I get a great signal. For other setups, I recommend reading the rest of the reviews.
|
READ THIS if you run XP, I will save you time and money!, March 28, 2005
By Dan in Spokane
DO NOT BUY THIS ADAPTER FOR XP. Instead get WUSB54GS. This adapter has wizard for ME and 98, but for XP you have to stand on your head and cross your fingers to get it to work. Mine never worked and I am a degreed and certified Network Engineer.
On the other hand, the updated WUSB54GS external adapter is compatible and works only with XP and 2000. Insert the CD and it practically installs itself. No hassles whatsoever, unlike the other miserable excuse for an XP wireless adapter. I wasted hours trying to make the WMP54GS work. Don't make the same mistake I did. Get the WUSB54GS and you will be up and running in minutes.
|
Here today, gone tomorrow., February 25, 2005
By Fuzzles (North Carolina)
Today it works. Tomorrow it doesn't work.
6 hours to install. Tech Support's English hit or miss.
Back to the store - so sad. (The tragedy of Windows 98 SE.)
|
Know The Minimum Requirements, January 20, 2005
By Donald Green (Texas)
Easy installation and works good out of the box. I ended up having to redo my network because I did not pay attention to the mininum requirements. This card requires a system have a processor of 500 MHz or greater. (I originally planned to install in a 333MHz system) I also ended up purchasing the WRE54G range expander because every time we used the microwave I would lose my connection. So know what system you have and where you will use it!
|
Encountered problems with Windows XP Home, SP2, January 6, 2005
By bairstet
Overall I was pleased with this network adapter (connected to a Linksys WRT54G wireless router) and it was working well...that is, until I installed Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2). Once I had installed SP2 the connection died. After a call to tech support I was told that the latest drivers for the network adapter weren't compatible with SP2 and the only solution was to uninstall. The rep said that he wasn't sure if Linksys would come out with drivers that worked with SP2 so I had no choice but to uninstall SP2. I find it poor that Linksys doesn't adequately support their product, especially since SP2 wasn't just a trivial release by Microsoft. I have seen some reviewers who got it working with SP2 but from what Linksys told me it sounds like you are on your own if you attempt it!
Good product, bad support!
|
Crummy tech support and Byzantine install offsets solid tech, December 12, 2004
By -C (Nutley, NJ USA)
The good? Wireless speeds are in excess of the 802.11g spec, so I am getting 100-110Mbps (12.5-13.5 MBps) from the basement to the living room easily. Once the initial horror of setup was over, I've been happily connected ever since. And you can't beat the price: Linksys gear is dropping in price, likely due to a ramp-up of pre-N gear on the horizon. (That's the new 802.11n standard which promises 6x the g-rate, and pre-N Belkin gear is delivering triple the speeds, so 150Mbps, or nearly 19 MBps).
The bad? Customer support, or lack thereof. I had a problem with the client not seeing the router. The *real* problem was the firewall on the basement machine. However, mention the words "Workgroup" or "file and printer sharing" to a Live Chat Specialist and watch how fast they come back with "we don't support configuring Windows" and a link to a knowledgebase article that will not give you a step-by-step diagnostic.
That's a shame, because a troubleshooting map would come in real handy. I fixed the problem myself -- I usually do with rare exception -- but for the non-IT professional, I fear for you. It's Belkin or Netgear for me next time.
And even more: the DHCP server on these routers are apparently very flaky. I could never get mine to give up an IP address to my WMP54GS card, so in the ened I configured it for a static IP and was connected. Woe to the inexperienced customer who tries to get an IP from one of these automatically. This issue is known throughout the Internet, but good luck trying to get Linksys to admit the problem and fix it.
The ugly? Try installing it. IF you manage to see your router on the first shot, your karma is perfect and heaven awaits you. Sinners like myself are forced to install the Linksys drivers only after the failed promise of Wireless Zero Configuration fails. Yes, you'll be switching between the Windows config and Linksys config a few times until you get it right. My suggestion would be to ensure you can see the router first (channel selection being the biggest 'gotcha' here), then worry about encryption and such.
Also, don't be surprised if the DHCP server on the WRT54GS router doesn't give you an IP address. It's a known issue to the outside world, which is waiting for Linksys to admit it and fix it. Configuring your WMP54GS with a static IP will get you fully connected in every case.
I have companion reviews for the WRT54GS and WUSB11, also Linksys gear. They won't be very flattering, either, but it's XMas time, and readers should not be giving bad gifts.
Fred
|
Page 1 2 3 4 5 of Total 5 Pages
|
|
| Copyright 2001-2007 WiFiReview.com |
|